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Nomad
Taloc (Pron. tal-lɒk), codenamed "Nomad", is one of the last remaining members of Tobduk's species and one of the three Dark Hunters hired by the Shadowed One following the Great Reformation. History Early History Like all of his people, Taloc was from an small island south of Nynrah. His species' society dictated that he undergo his village's initiation ceremonies which included the teachings of emotion manipulation, hunting, tracking, and hand-to-hand combat. Taloc was especially proficient at maintaining his composure, a critical skill for his people as that meant their emotional powers were not clouded by their own feelings. This led to him mastering Extrasensory Emotional Perception, a somewhat uncommon trait among his peers. As was customary, Taloc was required to defeat a Rahi of his choice with his bare hands in order to pass his hunting initiation. He defeated a Nui-Jaga and upheld his people's tradition by affixing his energy staff with the head of the slain Rahi. He spent much of his early life in his village, providing for and protecting it from Rahi and natural disasters. His race was its own protector, as no Toa was ever stationed on his island. Diaspora During the razing of the island, Taloc was one of several out on a hunting excursion. His village was ground zero for Makuta Chirox's experiment with the Visorak. All those in the village were slaughtered within minutes. Those who were outside, such as Taloc, became the survivors of the attack and they all immediately fled to the corners of the Great Spirit Robot. Taloc journeyed alone and chose to keep in contact with civilization. He roamed from one city to the next and kept a low profile throughout his travels. He used his emotion powers to get in the good graces of powerful Skakdi warlords, Steltian nobles, Vortixx crime bosses, and more. If an island had anything resembling chain of command, one could be sure Taloc used his emotion manipulation to take shortcuts. By the end of his many hundreds of years of journeying, he was known across the Matoran Universe under seven different names and five occupations. His years of leading double lives honed his espionage skills which would become very valuable down the road during his time as a Dark Hunter. Teridax's Reign Recruitment Following his escape from the ruined Great Spirit Robot, Nomad had no choice but to flee into the wilderness. The Mega-Village had one too many clients he had double-crossed over the years, all of whom would pay a pretty penny for his head. He was no stranger to wandering and could have easily lived in isolation for a thousand more years if it were not for a deadly-looking female warrior who found him. Despite his efforts to remain secretive all these years, she instantly him as one of Tobduk's kind and, therefore, his undeniable potential as a Dark Hunter. She promptly attempted to recruit him for the shadowy organization. Naturally, Tobduk refused and drew his staff. The female, however, leapt up in the blink of an eye and balanced herself on the tip of his staff, aiming a knife between his eyes. Having no other choice, he surrendered. The warrior, finally introducing herself as Lariska, said knowing when to lead or follow was his first lesson as a Dark Hunter and, in time, Nomad would be one to lead so long as he followed her. Nomad is currently a fully initiated member of the Dark Hunters and continues to train under Lariska to hone his combat prowess. Abilities and Equipment *'Emotion Manipulation:' Though it is commonly assumed his species manipulates only anger as Tobduk is the most well-known example, Taloc and the rest of his kind are actually able to siphon away any high-powered electrical impulse caused by any brain when experiencing intense emotion. Unlike Tobduk who has become fueled by rage following the loss of his kin, Taloc retains most of his ability to manipulate a wide ranged of emotions as a whole. This translates to greater physical strength, mental fortitude, and heightened agility when Taloc himself experiences an intense emotion or when someone else nearby does so. *'Extrasensory Emotional Perception:' A nearly-lost art unique to his race, Taloc's people were once able to form temporary links to other beings to determine what feelings they were experiencing. This ability was, and continues to be, very useful as it can detect if an undisciplined entity is lying, or what course of action could be taken to appease a foe, among many other things. With so few of his kind remaining, many of the remnants have chosen to go into hiding. The isolation of doing so has caused their mastery of this skill to deteriorate. Others like Tobduk have given in to a single emotion, blinding them to all other techniques such as this. Beings with mental shielding are generally impervious, save for very vague signs. Those who are trained to lie or control their emotions can fool a user of this power. *'Energy Staff:' Taloc wields a long staff affixed with a red Nui-Jaga's head. It is the traditional weapon of his people and is capable of discharging powerful, white-hot blasts of non-elemental energy. *'Kanohi Kadin:' Nomad wears a Great Kadin, the Mask of Flight, which allows the user to soar through the air under their own power. The speed of which a user flies and duration of the flight is generally dependant on the user's concentration as well as if it is the Great or Noble version. Nomad is a Dark Hunter of high mental discipline due to his training both prior to and after his induction as a Dark Hunter. He has been known to use the Kadin for several hours on extended scouting missions. *'Mental Shielding:' Nomad's species are naturally slightly resistant to mental probes and attacks to a degree comparable to that of a Ce-Matoran. Personality Trivia *"Taloc" is based on Talos, a huge, bronze automaton from Ancient Greek mythology. *As with all of the Canto Universe Dark Hunters, this character's theme song, "Outlaw", was composed by Creo. Category:User:ChineseLegolas Category:Dark Hunters Category:Canto Universe